4 ms·

There's a difference between including an FM radio and simply turning on a pre-existing one via a software update, which apparently is possible on at least some

There's a difference between including an FM radio and simply turning on a pre-existing one via a software update, which apparently is possible on at least some phone models. And regardless of NPR's motives, their "it's needed for emergencies" argument is a pretty good one.

wtallis 12y ago
And selling hardware that's been crippled in some way always makes people uncomfortable. Whether it's an FM tuner being turned off, tethering being blocked, CPU features turned off, or whatever, manufacturing a working product and then selling it in a less-working state is worrisome and shouldn't be automatically considered acceptable. It's a strong indicator of a possible market failure and a sure sign that the consumer's ownership rights have been compromised.
- cbhl 12y ago
  The hardware isn't crippled; you can root your phone and install an FM Radio app yourself.
  - wtallis 12y ago
    In some jurisdictions you can sometimes root your phone, if someone has put the effort into defeating the technical obstacles put in place to enforce the crippling. Other phones include a tuner that is disabled through hardware means.
  - whoopdedo 12y ago
    There's no guarantee that the FM antenna pin on the chip is connected to anything.
surge 12y ago
Text broadcasts are just as effective.
ctdonath 12y ago
Just because the hardware is present doesn't mean it's easy to enable. Sure, the radio chip used in the iPhone may have an FM capability, but enabling it requires resources to write apps supporting it (you'd expect an FM-capable iPhone to have an FM app, right?), handle additional hardware considerations (FM that close to such a compact radio-noisy device may require nontrivial RF electronics & packaging changes), add an antenna (FM antennas are much longer than cellular ones, where to put it?), address convenience factors (using the headphones wire as an antenna only works insofar as there is a wired headphone attached, what about when it's not?), and generally adds complexity to a device that the designers didn't want that capability in to start with. Instead of getting the FM receiver component enabled, you're more likely to have Apple et al tell & pay the radio chip makers to remove FM capability so they don't have to deal with some third party abusing the police power of the state to compel the manufacturers to make something do what they didn't want it to.

wtallis 12y ago

And selling hardware that's been crippled in some way always makes people uncomfortable. Whether it's an FM tuner being turned off, tethering being blocked, CPU features turned off, or whatever, manufacturing a working product and then selling it in a less-working state is worrisome and shouldn't be automatically considered acceptable. It's a strong indicator of a possible market failure and a sure sign that the consumer's ownership rights have been compromised.

cbhl 12y ago
The hardware isn't crippled; you can root your phone and install an FM Radio app yourself.
- wtallis 12y ago
  In some jurisdictions you can sometimes root your phone, if someone has put the effort into defeating the technical obstacles put in place to enforce the crippling. Other phones include a tuner that is disabled through hardware means.
- whoopdedo 12y ago
  There's no guarantee that the FM antenna pin on the chip is connected to anything.

surge 12y ago

Text broadcasts are just as effective.

ctdonath 12y ago

Just because the hardware is present doesn't mean it's easy to enable. Sure, the radio chip used in the iPhone may have an FM capability, but enabling it requires resources to write apps supporting it (you'd expect an FM-capable iPhone to have an FM app, right?), handle additional hardware considerations (FM that close to such a compact radio-noisy device may require nontrivial RF electronics & packaging changes), add an antenna (FM antennas are much longer than cellular ones, where to put it?), address convenience factors (using the headphones wire as an antenna only works insofar as there is a wired headphone attached, what about when it's not?), and generally adds complexity to a device that the designers didn't want that capability in to start with. Instead of getting the FM receiver component enabled, you're more likely to have Apple et al tell & pay the radio chip makers to remove FM capability so they don't have to deal with some third party abusing the police power of the state to compel the manufacturers to make something do what they didn't want it to.